The Flames of Hope
by GoldenShade
Summary: Reverse Situation! When Nala wanders off into the Outlands, she meets a lone cub that saves her life and decides to take him back to Priderock. Adventure, Action, Romance and Drama are to be expected in large quantities. No more cub fluff Read ANs!
1. Pride

**AN: I kind of ran out of ideas for the title... :P I KNOW AFRICAN WILD DOGS HUNT ALONE. Now that it's said, back to business. Might not be too good to start with… It'll get better, I promise. Reverse situation! Nala is the princess! Hope you enjoy this… It's hard to come up with original SNLs nowadays, there are so many already O_o I tried my best to make it kind of original, though I do give some credit to Nala's Secret Mate for the basic idea of Simba being a rogue/runaway. **

Chapter 1: Pride

"Ouch!" Yelled young Nala, as she was exploring the Outlands, even after her Father, Mufasa, clearly told her not to do so. She had stepped on a small thorn and her paw started to bleed lightly. She noticed and quickly started licking the blood as she could not stand having a too dirty paw. She saw a big blood splatter on the ground.

"_Probably mine" _She thought to herself. But after close examination of her paw and of the splatter, she realised that there was too much blood there for it to be her own. She had only suffered a small cut, whilst that looked like a big wound, perhaps a bite.

Although she got very scared from the blood, she figured that whoever dropped it would be too wounded to fight her, if she even appeared to be a menace. So she continued on her felonious walk, well aware of the consequences.

All of a sudden, she started hearing footsteps, getting louder, they were. Nala started panicking a little, could it be a pack of Hyenas? She quickly made her way into the eye of a nearby elephant skull and hid, while still looking down at whatever would be there.

"_Why did I have to come here…?" _She asked herself, as she started regretting her decision and despising her curiosity.

As the beasts came closer, her heart started beating. She did think that they would keep running, as they did not seem interested about slowing down the way Nala was hearing the footsteps.

Nala heard a small roar, which could only have been made by a lion. She lift her head up, letting her curiosity get the best of her once again. What she saw then horrified her.

A young, golden-furred cub was being circled by a pack of 7 African Wild Dogs, which were considerably taller than the cub was. She had always thought that Wild Dogs fought on their own. Maybe this group was a young family of sort. Nala watched helplessly as the cub tried to fight off all the Wild Dogs.

He dodged one's charge, and then slashed at his back leg making it scream in pain and smashing to the ground for a short period of time. He counter-charged an enemy, jumping and grabbing a hold of the Wild Dog's back, followed by numerous slashes to its back.

Nala watched in amazement as the cub slashed at a dizzy enemy's face, making him fall to his back and yelp in pain. The cub had not killed one Wild Dog yet, only hurt, wounded or made unconscious.

"_I can't just stay here and do nothing_" She thought, taking pity to the Cub's situation.

She lifted herself out of the elephant skull; she managed to find eye contact with the small cub, where she saw two beautiful and hazelnut colored eyes. That brief moment distracted the cub long enough for him to get tackled to a rock by one of the dogs followed by a quick slash to his left side. He fell, dizzy by the strength of the hit, incapable of lifting himself up.

One of the dogs saw Nala and yelled "Hey! There's another one!" with a big smile. Nala wondered why he was happy, she stood on the head of the skull.

"Oh great…" she said out loud.

The dogs circled to the other side of the skull, where it would be easier to scale, and attack from. Nala did not take her eyes off the leading Wild Dog. She had not yet learned how to defend herself from other carnivores, only to attack her prey.

A dog jumped in her direction, she dodged and the dog fell to the other side of the elephant, which was apparently impossible to scale to them. As she looked to see if the jumping dog would be coming back up the other way, another one pounced on her from the other side; she was completely helpless, impossible to dodge it. She was done.

As it was getting near her, a golden spot filled her eyesight.

The canine had been tackled by the golden cub from before; the pounce was followed by numerous scratches at its face. The other Wild Dogs, afraid of getting disfigured, as two of them had already been, ran to the other end of the wasteland.

The unknown cub started walking the other way, wanting nothing more to do with them.

"Hey! Wait!" Nala said, while chasing him down.

The cub stopped and turned to look at her "I-I would like to thank you" she continued.

He simply shrugged. Despite his grave wounds, the young cub turned and kept going, amazingly ignoring the pain.

"Wait, do you have somewhere to go?" she asked to him.

"No." was the simple answer that he gave her.

"Then please return with me, to the Pridelands" she pleaded.

"Why should I trust you?" he asked, serious to death.

Nala quickly thought of an argument "Well, if you can't trust me, then please come to heal your wounds, they will surely kill you on the long run" she said, being completely right about the case.

The cub took a look at the deep gash on his left side and to the numerous scratches and burns on his body and face "Maybe you're right.." admitting defeat to Nala. She alone seemed to notice that his body was battered and bruised all over.

"So what's your name?" she asked as he turned around and started following her.

"Simba" he said.

"I'm Nala… Where are you from?" she asked, unaware that it was a soft subject to the cub.

Simba simply looked down and kept quiet, not answering the question "I'm sorry, I could not have known that it was a soft subject…" she said, following Simba's silence.

She respected his silence for some time, until Priderock was in sight "There it is" she said.

"Wow… You live there?" Simba asked.

"I do, and so does the rest of the Pride" she said, smiling at the injured Simba.

He returned the smile. Nala flinched under it and looked in front of her. It was not long before they passed the waterhole, at which Simba had been able to drink to his delight "I don't usually drink all that much" he said.

"Why is that, Simba?" she asked surprised.

"No water" he said with a quick laugh. Nala could not figure out why he was laughing about his own situation, which was a lot worst then anything she had seen before. She let out a giggle nonetheless.

Nala took a look at the sun, it was way past the appointed time for her to come back to the den, the lionesses would probably be searching for her by now "Simba, let's hurry to Priderock… I'm supposed to be back by now, they might send searching parties to find me" she told him.

Simba had a surprised look on his face "What are you a princess or something?" he said with a laugh to himself.

"Actually, I am the princess" she said, and was quite amused to see Simba's shocked look.

"What were you doing in the outlands, then?" he asked her.

"Curiosity got the best of me" she said and giggled a little "Luckily; you were there to help me, Simba"

He shrugged, not wanting to be reminded of that situation, where he had been tackled by a mere wild dog.

They arrived at Priderock, where the den was nearly empty, except for Nala's mother, Sarabi, and all of the Pride's other young cubs, which were all sleeping by now. The other lionesses, were most likely gone to find the princess. Sarabi saw Nala entering the den with Simba behind her. She quickly ran to her daughter, grabbed her before bringing her back, away from Simba.

"Mooomm! What are you doing?" Nala asked with a quite confused look.

"Who is he Nala?" Sarabi asked, calming down a little, seeing that Nala was not in danger whatsoever.

"I wandered in the outlands and…" she was cut off by her mother's protesting.

"You disobeyed us? Wait until your father hears about this Nala" She nearly screamed, risking to wake the cubs, but they didn't.

"… I stumbled across Simba, whom was fighting with a family, or pack of Wild Dogs alone… I hid in an Elephant skull until I felt the urge to help him, but my intervention only distracted him and caused him a wound" she looked at Simba's side, where a formidable gash was.

Sarabi examined the wound with attention "Then, while he was dizzy from the first blow, the Wild Dogs turned on me instead, one of them was about to bite my throat when Simba tackled and disfigured him"

"Well young one, we owe you my Nala's life… We will get you to Raffiki, our healer, once the Pride returns." Sarabi said.

Simba nodded and left the den to go lying down outside, besides a rock. He heard footsteps coming from inside the den "Simba, I have a question… When the Wild Dogs saw me, some of them smiled…" Nala asked.

"They did… What about it?" He replied, curious as of why that was of any relevance.

"Why would one smile when fighting?" Nala said after lying down next to him.

"Getting food isn't easy in the outlands… That is why they seemed happy, they thought they had gotten two cubs for diner" he said with a quick smile.

"What about your wound, is it painful?" She asked, beginning to worry as blood dripped down to the land.

"Well, it does hurt a little." He said, looking at the horizon.

They both waited there, enjoying each other's company until the King eventually came back with all the other lionesses "Nala, where have you been!" her father asked.

"In th-the outlands… Father" she responded, while lowering her head to the ground.

"What had I told you about going to the outlands? You could have been killed!" The king said while lowering his head to gain eye-contact with his daughter "Who is he?" he finally asked, with a quick head move towards Simba.

"He saved me dad, I would have died without him… His name is Simba" Nala said.

The king then turned to address Simba "Where might you come from, Simba?"

Simba remained silent for a moment; he still did not want to talk about his old Pride "I… am a rogue" he said.

"A cub like yourself? A rogue? Since when?" he asked.

"Since I was left to myself, Your Majesty" Simba said, while lowering his head more.

"Well Simba, I will get you to Raffiki, I will have some questions for you when you are feeling better" The king abruptly finished.

**AN: Funny start isn't it :L I find Simba to range from overly serious, to overly playful… Sounds like a good Simba to me :P It'll get better over time, trust me. Nala's adventures are only beginning… I wonder what Mufasa will say about Simba tomorrow… You'll just have to wait and see.**


	2. Pinned Ya!

**AN: Quick Note: (This is mostly for Plot dev… No judging :O)What can I say? Welcome to the second chapter of "The Flames of Hope" O_o The title currently doesn't make sense… But it probably will after this. Anyways, thanks for all the good reviews guys, and if you read this "Kate" maybe you could make an account on FF eh? :P**

Chapter 2: Pinned Ya!

"_No… Please don't…" Simba said in vain. A dying roar and… The deed had been done; the lioness was no more, killed by the savage pack that had attacked their pride._

_Simba gasped and ran, further and faster than he ever thought he could. Tears started falling from his eyes as he neared the Desert, where he would finally be safe. Flames blocked his way; he had to risk going through it… Even if that meant getting burned and brought back dead, it was his only hope. He still could not believe how someone could think of such a horrifying plan. They had set the whole savannah on fire, simply to get the King away from his Pride whilst they attacked._

***I * I***

Simba woke up in Raffiki's tree, breathing heavily; tears were still in his eyes. He looked outside to see the sun rising. He managed to lift himself up, despite his wounds. The young cub decided to visit the waterhole, in an attempt to sort his issues alone.

He passed Raffiki, who was sleeping, and breathing heavily in his tree. Simba made as less noise as he possibly could.

He left the tree, still being overly quiet… His mind was occupied to something else at the moment; he still remembered the dying roar of his mother. That element alone was enough to make him dizzy and to bump into various small trees on his way to the Waterhole.

As he finally reached the waterhole and took a drink to satisfy his morning thirst, he noticed his reflection in the water and turned around, looking at the ground. He could not support looking at himself in the eye; the shame he felt was too unbearable for him to stand.

He lied under a tree and looked at the horizon, where the sun was rising in the sky.

***I * I***

Nala had woken up very happy, in fact, she was so happy that she got up too early and left for Raffiki's tree. Not forgetting to tell her father of course, whom gave her permission, perhaps a drowsy one but an approval nonetheless.

Upon her arrival, she noticed that Raffiki was still sleeping. She decided to let him sleep and to look for Simba around the tree. After fruitless searching, she started to grow worried; he was not meant to leave the tree until his wounds healed.

She did know where Simba had left for, but she was still considerably mad at him for leaving Raffiki's tree so early. And so, she made her way towards the Waterhole.

She closed in on the Waterhole, where she saw Simba lying down under a tree, his head lying on the ground, between his paws. She made to approach him but, upon closing by she stepped on a twig, releasing a loud crack to the land and waking Simba whom was now up and crouching in a fighting stance, ready to face whatever was behind the tall grass.

She came forwards and left the grass, showing herself.

"Oh, sorry Nala" he said, and lied back down, facing the waterhole.

"I knew I'd find you here, Simba… Why did you leave the tree? You were supposed to stay foot until your wounds completely healed" she said, lying down right next to him.

"I needed some time alone, to think things through…" he said, before resting his head on the ground.

"Well what were you thinking about? Maybe I can help" she responded, still unaware of Simba's situation.

Simba remained quiet once more, and kept it so for a few minutes before saying "I was thinking about my Pride…" he said quietly.

Nala remained silent; for fear that asking a question might make Simba leave her, she chose her words carefully "Well Simba, we might want to return to the den, my father will want to talk to you" she said, preferring to change the subject then to pursue pushing on Simba's misery. She saw him nod and get up, leaving towards the den.

***I * I***

"Father, what did he tell you?" Nala whispered to her father as Simba was walking out of the cave, his head down.

"Well Nala, Simba did not have an easy life… His Pride was annihilated and he blames himself for it" Mufasa responded.

Nala gasped, why would he be blaming himself for something that he could not have stopped? "Okay, thank you father" she said. The king gave her a smile before leaving the den to go patrol the Pridelands.

She needed to go see Simba, perhaps change his focus for a while. Even try to make him smile and laugh, but she didn't think that she could make Simba have fun. Nala spotted him heading back to the waterhole and immediately ran after him; she should not have much trouble catching up with him as he was walking very slowly, ears down.

"Simba! Wait up!" She yelled while running towards him as fast as she could.

Simba turned to face her "What is it?" he said on a quite sad tone.

"Well, I thought you might want to meet with the other cubs!" Nala asked with a wide smile, trying to change his ideas.

"Why not… Where are they?" He asked.

"Probably by the waterhole, that is where they usually hang around at" She quietly said, turning her head towards the location.

Simba turned away and kept walking towards the waterhole "You'll see they are very playful… Maybe too playful at times, now that I think about it." She said with a quick giggle, in an effort to make Simba smile. As she had planned he smiled back to her.

They looked to the opposite side of the waterhole where some cubs, mostly girls were lying in the shade. Simba, intending on turning left to go and talk to them, ran into a male cub. Both of them collided in a loud banging.

The other cub fell on his back from the force of the blow, as Simba simply put a paw to his muzzle and started rubbing it "Hey, are you alright?" Simba asked the other cub, whom was still lying on its back.

"Ow… That kind of hurt" he said before unleashing a happy, yet mad smile, much to Simba's surprise. Not knowing the Pridelander's ways, he could not know what was coming next.

The opposing cub literally pounced on him, as he did not have time to prepare for the attack, Simba did not manage to dodge it. Both of them kept rolling around for a few seconds, until he managed to pin the young cub.

Simba did not take his eyes off of the cub that lay under him. Nala, on her side watched as Simba pinned Chumvi, usually the strongest cub of all, he had never lost a game of "Pinned ya!" until this very day. Now that he looked at him, our golden-furred cub saw a lot of shock in the opposing cub's eyes.

Most of the girls were standing up now, looking at them with wide eyes, apparently as shocked as Chumvi was. Simba removed his paws from the cub's chest and sat, waiting for some words to come from him.

"You're not from around these parts, are ya?" Chumvi asked in amazement while laughing.

"Not really, no… " Simba said, not taking his eyes off of him.

"What's your name?" Chumvi finally asked, despite getting joined by two of his friends, whom had watched the game of "Pinned ya!".

"I'm Simba, what's yours?" was the simple response that Simba gave, while turning his head a little, to study what the girls were doing on the other end of the waterhole.

"I'm Chumvi, and I usually don't lose at this game" he said, with a quick laugh to Simba.

He returned the laugh; everything seemed fine until one of Chumvi's friends spoke out "Chumvi… How could you lose to this new cub? He probably never played before" he said, while getting in a fighting stance, ready to challenge Simba to another game.

"You're right; I never played this game… For fun that is." He said, surprising all the cubs surrounding him, the challenging cub stood straight and turned his head a little.

"What? I don't understand" was his answer.

Nala knew where this was going; she had been following the conversation silently, as the other girls did on the other end of the waterhole, even if they pretended not to hear anything "I never played for fun… I only pounced and pinned when my life was at stake and it has been for a while".

All the cubs in front of him, gasped in surprise "Geez! Where are you from?" Chumvi asked, admiring Simba's calm attitude, even when facing this situation.

Simba remained quiet, yet again but decided to make it public, he could not hide it for ever "I came from far past the Outlands… Where I have been fighting to survive" He simply said, looking at the horizon, where he could see the massive wasteland, which was his home.

An awkward silence fell upon everyone; most of them had their mouths wide open, such that a fly could have flown in easily. A girl that had been listening to the conversation and had made her way next to Nala broke it "Th-the outlands…?" she said, nearly shaking of terror.

"W-Well, I still think I can beat you" Chumvi's friend said, followed by his powerful pounce in Simba's direction.

Simba forced the cub to roll another time, and managed to land above him in no time, a lot faster than he had pinned Chumvi. Simba stared at him with a small grin "Oh really?" was the only thing that he said.

His pouncing had attracted quite a crowd by now, most of the girls had, in fact, left their shade to come closer, while some boys were running back from the mud hole, which was quite smaller, yet right next to the waterhole.

Simba let the cub up and sat once more "So Simba, what's up with your wound?" he asked. Most of his "Audience" had not seen his wound as it was on his left side, and they were mostly standing on his right. And so he turned to show his healing battle wound, he knew that it could not be helped, most of them would just go to his left side if he did not show them.

Simba gave a look to Nala, as in asking for her to do the talking about this… After all, Simba had not seen everything during the battle, considering his dizzy state after the first blow. She made her way to Simba's left side "Well… I was wandering in the outlands" Before anyone could protest about the princess going there she cut them off "I let my curiosity get the best of me" she finished.

"So I heard some footsteps and…" she told the cubs of the rest of the story.

Some of them gasped as they heard what Simba had done, others looked at him in amazement. All of those looks kind of made of flinch as he lowered his head, looking at the ground, being shy of all this staring.

Nala smiled to herself, not only had she managed to make Simba have fun, but to make him shy too! She giggled as he made to leave with the guys and gave her a concerned look. She gave him a sign to tell him that she was okay. She made her way to the girls.

"Kind of cute, isn't he?" the leading girl told Nala, whom had always been considered a "low-quality" girl in their surroundings, but now that Simba was here, guess is that they saw an opening… Through her, a girl wanting to meet him could be satisfied.

"I guess he is…" Nala said, looking at where the boys had just left for.

**AN: As I said, this is mainly a plot dev chapter, not much to it. Hope you were satisfied for today my friends, another chapter will probably come tomorrow night, or early tomorrow morning. Also, I always post my chapters late because I'm at peace to write… With that, my eyes are too tired to re-read my chapter out loud; I would also risk waking up my sister.**


	3. Aida

**AN: **

**Shade's Back!**

**I am sorry, for I have kept everyone waiting… I got asked to do some programming for a friend and I just couldn't refuse, so I didn't really have time to write. Plus, (read below)**

**I got bored of writing about Simba and Nala as cubs. Also, it'll actually give everything a purpose. (And make things a lot more flexible for me to mess with) So they are now adolescents, but still not together. **

**DON'T WORRY I will eventually make an alternative story to this one where I write from chapter 3+ with Simba and Nala as cubs. I just wanted to write with them as Adolescents for now. So if you were enjoying them as cubs, and want them as cubs, you'll have to wait until I finish this as Adolescents :)**

_**- Chapter 3: Aida -**_

These last few months had flown by for Simba, he had never expected to remain with his friends for so long, in fact, he had ever expected to stay with them at all. Most of them were now adolescents and nearly fully grown. Simba's mane had grown to be a dark red color, while his coat had remained the amazing gold that he always had. His friends had grown too, Chumvi was now about as tall as him, yet a lot thinner then Simba was.

Even with everyone growing at different rates, Simba remained the strongest and fastest of all lions of the Pride, except the adults, of course. At their age, you would think that they would all know how to fight against an enemy whom is actually fighting back, but none of them did. The adults had determined that it would be best for them to teach that once they are fully grown.

One morning, Simba woke up in a corner of the Den, where he had slept alone for the past months. The young adult took a deep breath and tried to remember how he had ended up at the Pridelands and how he had saved Nala from the dogs.

At one point, Simba decided to get up and leave the den, even if the moon was still in the sky. The stars were shining, which made him remember when Mufasa had told him that the Great Kings were up there. He started walking down Priderock, feeling only to be alone, away from stress and pressure.

Simba walked a considerably long way through tall grass and plains, until he reached a small cliff, the one where he always lied down at, the one where he felt his family was, waiting for him constantly.

He lied in the tall grass on his back and looked at the stars "I am concerned" he whispered to the Great Kings. He felt a quick gust of wind on his cheek and took it as an acknowledgement.

Simba just laid there, thinking about the sparkle he kept feeling in him, as in his own body was telling him that something would be happening soon. It might have just been him being sleepless for the past few days, but he felt it nonetheless, and that worried him greatly. If the Pridelands were attacked now, they would most likely be taken by the adversary, the young adults, whom are usually the strongest, did not have proper fighting training yet.

The more he thought about it, the more it worried him. He could probably not stand seeing his Pride die entirely for a second time.

Simba was deep in thought… Should he teach the others himself? And more importantly, why was he the only one who was feeling like this? Both of these questions remained unanswered as he glared at the stars. After some time, he let out a sigh and looked around, the light of the moon made the plains look quite sparkly, he simply kept starring at it. For the first time in the last week, he felt at peace, like all the hate had left the world for a few minutes.

And then, _*Crack*_

As Simba heard a limb break, he quickly turned around in a fighting stance, ready to face whatever was hiding behind the darkness of the night.

"Show yourself!" Simba yelled. He was far out enough for it to be a wandering hyena or a rogue lion.

What he saw next surprised him greatly, the most beautiful cream-colored lion walked up to him, glaring at him "It's me" she said.

Simba gave a sigh of relief and laid back down to face the stars. Nala followed and laid next to him in the grass "Why did you come all the way out here?" She asked.

Simba remained silent for a second or two "I needed to think" was his short, yet straight forward answer.

"What's bothering you Simba?" Nala asked as a true best friend would.

Once again, Simba remained silent, assessing the situation "My instincts are telling me that something is going to happen" He said.

Nala nuzzled him and whispered in his ear "And that is a reason to go way out here?" Nala said, staring at him with a slightly confused look.

"I feel like it is related to my old Pride somehow" Simba said, now staring at her "And I am closer to it here then I am in the Pridelands" He finished.

Nala, despite understanding his words, felt a little shocked at what he had said "Simba, its dangerous here. How about we get back to the den?" Nala asked, looking around "We can talk of it more tomorrow".

"Alright" Simba said, kind of frustrated. He would have stayed there but he did not want Nala walking all the way to the Pridelands alone, she could easily get attacked and overwhelmed. She knew this, and took advantage of the situation so that Simba would follow her back and take his mind off things "But… Why did you follow me in the first place?" Simba asked.

That last question caught Nala off guard "Well, I didn't want you to get hurt so I…" She turned, but Simba could have sworn to have seen her blush a little.

They walked alongside each other through the plains and tall grass until they finally reached Priderock. Both walked in the den without a noise, Simba went back to his corner, expecting to be alone once more. But Nala had different plans; she followed and laid down next to him. She didn't answer his confused look and simply put her head between her paws and went to sleep.

Being too tired, Simba rested his head on his paws and closed his eyes, finally finding some sleep after numerous days of blank nights.

_**TLKTLKTLKTLKTLK**_

_The enemy lion entered the den where Simba's mother and himself had been hiding for the duration of the attack, his mother gasped as he let out a mischievous grin. The mother looked at her cub and started crying "Simba I want you to leave this place now" she said and attacked the opposing lion._

_The following was prepared for the assault and expertly dodged the pounce. He put a paw to her chest and raised his paw, ready to slash at her neck._

"_No… Please don't…" Simba said in vain. A dying roar and… The deed had been done; the lioness was no more, killed by the savage pack that had attacked their pride._

_Simba gasped and ran, farther and faster than he ever thought he could. Tears started falling from his eyes as he neared the Desert, where he would finally be safe. Flames blocked his way; he had to risk going through it. Even if that meant getting burned and brought back dead, it was his only hope. He still could not believe how someone could think of such a horrifying plan. They had set the whole savannah on fire, simply to get the King away from his Pride whilst they attacked._

_He jumped through and landed on the other side, from where he could reach the desert. He looked back only to see the attacking lions roaring from the den entrance, cheering for their victory. Simba looked down, how could he live with himself knowing that he had caused this? Shame filled his mind as he started walking towards the desert, well aware that the enemies knew of him surviving the attack and that they would probably be looking for him._

Simba woke up in shock, what did these dreams mean? He looked around to see that only a few other lions remained sleeping in the den and that the sun was high in the sky. Nala was probably down at the waterhole and had decided to let him sleep since he had not been able to for the past few days.

_What's wrong with me… _Simba thought, he was indeed living some weird things lately. He remained there, motionless for a while, trying to think things through. It was not long before he went back to sleep, tired as his eyes were.

_**TLKTLKTLKTLKTLK**_

Nala was walking in the Pridelands, admiring the green tall grass and the abundance of food for everyone in the kingdom. Right next to her was one of her new friends called Aida, a lot of girls had suspected that she had a crush on Simba, although no one really took it seriously. They were walking close to the borders of the Outlands, taking slight risks from time to time was good for them, from what Chumvi had said.

The princess did not bother Aida having a crush on Simba, she did not know him a lot and neither did Simba.

Both of them had been talking, a conversation without an end is what it turned out to be. Nala gave out a sigh, could she not have one minute of peace and quiet? She was tired of talking; they had been at it for nearly half an hour now. Unlike the other girls, she disliked gossiping, the others were becoming very good at it. The day before, Nala had learned the "Smile N' Nod" tactic from Chumvi and the other boys. At first, it seemed dishonest to her, but after putting it to use, she never stopped. That was what she was doing right now, smiling and nodding at Aida who seemed to be talking about how refreshing water was.

Eventually, she got tired of walking around and decided that it was time to head back for her "You know, I think I have a lesson to attend to with my Mother… You can stick around and be brave all you want" Nala said with a grin before taking off towards Priderock.

Something about Aida's face from when she had said to be brave worried her, her first thought was that she had taken it as a challenge, which could turn out quite bad for her.

Not wanting to wake Simba, Nala made her way to the Waterhole, in hopes of finding some friends to play with.

"Hey Nala!" She heard from her left side.

As she turned, she saw a tall lion "Oh hey Chumvi" was her simple answer, even though she gave him a quick smirk, knowing what would come next.

Chumvi pounced on her, trying to pin her down like he usually managed to. This time was no different, as Nala was trying to pull him back to make him go under her, but he pulled back his entire weight and managed to keep Nala to the ground, the last thing he needed to do was to put his weight on her, but he didn't, which confused the princess for a second. He stepped away from her, letting her get up.

"Why didn't you pin me?" She asked with a confused look.

"I think I beat you enough in your life" He said with an arrogant smirk, which made her want to pin him more, but she knew she couldn't "So where's Simba?" He asked her.

"Sleeping… He had insomnia or something for the past few days…" Nala responded, glaring.

"That is unfortunate… I was looking for some competition" He said, quite arrogant once again.

Nala hung out with her friends for the rest of the day, mostly talking to some other girls or playing 'Pinned Ya!' with the boys, which was truly one of her favorite games. _Hey, at least it beats talking! _She had liked to tell herself. Simba had got up in the afternoon and had spent most of his time lying down at the spot he laid at the night before.

As Nala was walking back towards Priderock, she started worrying. She had not seen Aida since she had left her near the Outlands earlier today. Could she have been attacked? No, probably not. But where was she? Aida loved to talk with the other lionesses, she could not have spent her entire day alone, it just wasn't like her.

And so, she walked to the top of Priderock, where she saw a marvellous sunset, the hints of pink and orange made it reflect in the Horizon, coloring the clouds and sky.

She found her Father there, also. He was watching the cubs return to Priderock, most of them would have returned by now, so why was he still out? "Father, why are you still out? Have we not all returned?" She asked.

"All except one…" He said in a breath "Aida." He finished.

Nala gasped, could she really have been attacked? "I was beginning to worry about her too, the last time I saw her was… When we were talking next to the Outlands" She finished, expecting an outburst from her father. But when he didn't react, she continued "Eventually I left and told her that she could keep being brave… I'm afraid that she might have taken it as a challenge".

King Mufasa simply kept staring at the horizon, silencing his own breath so that he could hear if anything was running towards Priderock.

"The sun will set soon… We will not be able to find her in the night, it will have to wait until tomorrow morning" was his answer to the last statement.

Nala felt destroyed what if she did get attacked? It was her fault, she told her to be brave, she let her alone near the outlands and she caused her disappearance. She ran into the den without paying attention to the other lions that were staring at her, realising that she had a few tears falling from her eyes. She made her way to Simba and laid next to him.

"What's wrong Nala?" He asked with a comforting tone.

Nala then told him of the entire story, from the beginning to the end "I'm sure everything is fine, Nala… We will go look for her tomorrow morning" He said, glaring at her, straight at her eyes.

She put her head on his shoulder…

"I truly hope you're right, Simba…"

**AN: I really like writing this… I like where it's going and how events are turning out. R&R please. If you have any ideas, requests or questions, please PM Me or post it in a Review. Also, like I said, I will eventually release the chapter 3 that I was originally going to post in an alternate version of the story. I sure hope that I made the beginning feel weird.**


	4. Run under the Night

**AN: Shade is back once again, my friends! Hopefully, you didn't miss me too much… I love you all 3**

_**Chapter 4: Run under the Night**_

Nala awoke to the terrible events of the day before, one of her friends was missing and it was mostly her own fault. The cold of the den kept her from forgetting about the possibility that she had died. She couldn't help a few tears escaping her eyes. As she opened them, something blurred her vision; Golden Fur. She smiled to herself as she lift her body up. She started looking around for Aida, she could have returned during the night, but as she examined the lionesses, none of them seemed to be her friend.

She walked to the entrance of the den, making sure not to wake anyone in the process. Surprisingly, she noticed that it had rained. There were numerous puddles on the rocky surface, while the Savannah seemed drenched. It was rare for it to rain in the Pridelands, it had only happened a few times in the past year. Now, the sun was in view in the sky and the rain clouds had faded away. Nala only dared hope that her friend was alright; something inside her was imposing a distressed feeling, as if she was the one needing help.

Mufasa would probably call for a Pride Meeting soon; he was doing his morning rounds right now. Surely he was looking harder for Aida, but if he came in empty handed that would mostly certainly mean that she had been taken to the Outlands and that the King could not do anything about it since he needed to remain in the Pridelands to assure peace.

"I did not find her, Nala" She heard her father say from behind her. Sadness filled her mind and she let out a few quick tears.

"Who could have done this, Father?" Nala said and sobbed.

"I ignore it Nala, I will call for a Pride Meeting as soon as everyone wakes up" Mufasa said, trying to reassure his daughter.

Nala sobbed again, and entered the den, leaving her father to his thoughts outside. She noticed that there were a lot more Lions that were starting to get up. Perhaps they had heard their conversation and were getting ready for the meeting. Simba too was awake, even though he was resting his head on his paws, Nala could clearly see that his eyes were open.

She laid next to him, and was greeted with a warm smile. She smiled back before he asked "So what did the King say?"

"He will be calling a meeting soon enough…" She responded, resting her head on her paws.

"Don't worry Nala" He said before putting his head on hers.

"I just wish I had not left her alone" the princess said with guilt.

"Then you would have disappeared with her" He said, and started staring at her, straight in the eyes "You can't blame yourself for this Nala"

"But it's my fault…" She started, but was soon interrupted.

"No it's not, if there's someone to blame, it would be me" Simba commenced, and continued due to Nala's confused look "If I had not been sleeping, I surely could have prevented this from happening"

"Oh Simba, you're just saying anything you can think of" She said, with some sad giggles.

He simply kept starring at her; he had been trying to comfort her, to no avail. Seeing Nala like this saddened him greatly. Simba went ahead and nuzzled her, doing everything he could think of to possibly make her feel better.

"I'm sure your father will think of something" He said, in another attempt at comforting her.

Both remained at their current location for a while, Simba's head on Nala's as he kept trying to comfort her. She seemed quite shaken from these last events, more than Simba ever thought possible. It was still too early for everyone to be up, but both had doubts that Mufasa would not wait any longer, as there might be a life on the line.

As quickly as he had left, the King was back in the Den and ordered a few lionesses to gently wake the cubs, as most adults had awaken already.

Everyone had soon gathered around the King, Simba was in the back of the Half Circle as he did not feel like pushing people around for a better spot. Nala on her side, was needed in the frontline of the circle, in case she needed to explain a certain detail of the story. Although, Simba doubted that she was not in any condition to explain anything whatsoever.

"I have gathered everyone here today because we have a missing lionesse" Mufasa started "Aida". There were some gasps at the last statement.

"She has disappeared yesterday when…" He recited the entire story to the Pride, some of them were surprised, and others weren't.

"Now, I suspect that whoever has taken Aida, to have fled to the Outlands" Some lions lowered their heads, as if all hope was lost and that she could not be saved, after all, no pure Pridelanders could survive the Outlands.

"I may not leave the Kingdom for I need to protect it" Mufasa continued "And I may not force anyone to risk their lives" He finished, which was followed by a wave of gasps and curses.

"I may only ask for volunteers… Would anyone be willing to go?" The King asked.

There was an awkward silence until the Princess spoke "I will go father, it is my fault" Nala said.

Mufasa was staring at her either angrily, or with disbelief. Another silence followed, but this time, it was much shorter as a Male lion spoke up with great determination "No Nala" was his statement. The crowd split apart to show Simba on the other edge of the circle. He walked to the middle of the circle, gave Nala a look that seemed to mean "I'm sorry" but turned to face Mufasa.

"I will go, Your Majesty. I know the Outlands better than anyone else, and I can fight" Simba started.

Nala stared at him in disbelief "Simba! I'm coming with you" She said.

"No, you aren't Nala. I'm sorry but the outlands are in no way a safe place" He said with a begging look. Her coming with him would most likely slow him down, and lower his chances of finding Aida.

"Nala" Mufasa started "Simba is right; he is by far the best choice if we are to save her"

"But why may I not accompany him, father? Surely I could be helpful" Came as a quick response.

"You are the princess, I cannot allow you to get hurt for me" Simba said quietly. Nala was starting to grow angry, he could feel it. She turned away and left the den. Truth is, Simba only said that she was the princess for it to seem a valuable argument to the rest of the Pride.

"I'm sure she'll come around" Mufasa said "You depart tomorrow morning"

Simba nodded and watched as Nala left the den.

_**TLKTLKTLKTLKTLK**_

Simba ran as fast as he could, he had not expected Nala to run so far away from him. She was not the fastest runner in the world, while Simba was incredibly quick for his age. She eventually gave in and sat straight, her back to him. He looked around and could not exactly determine where they were. Trees, plenty of them, which was quite rare for the Savannah. He assumed that she had led them to the jungle.

"Nala…" Simba started, but was quickly interrupted by an angry lioness.

"How could you Simba? You know I could not stand to see you getting hurt for me.." She said and looked down.

"This is something I must do. You know as well as I do that I am the only one with Outland experience besides Mufasa" He answered with a comprehensive expression.

"But Simba… What if… What if you get hurt over there? No one could help you." She said sadly.

Simba started distinguishing tears running down her cheeks "You should not worry about me so much Nala. It would not be my first time on the road; I've been through tough times before."

"I could not bear to see you hurt… Or… Or… Dead…" She said letting loose on her tears that started flowing down her cheeks like a waterfall.

Simba let out a sigh. He did not understand why she was making a fuss out of all of this. He would not get hurt or die. Sure there might be a few fights, but he was used to it and a great warrior, he had lived that way his whole life. His only concern right now was that she did not follow him into the outlands while his back was turned "Nala promise me this; whatever you do, you won't follow me into the Outlands" He asked.

"I… I…" She did not know what to answer as she had planned to do this without her father's consent, but now that Simba brought it up, it made her uneasy.

Her being hesitant to give an answer made him understand. He looked deep into the deep blue eyes of Nala's and let out another sigh. "Nala, if you can't promise me then I'll be honest with you now… If you come along, it might just slow me down. Plus, if you get hurt, I won't be able to carry both you and Aida back to the Pridelands… That would make things more complicated than they should be" he said, turned around and started walking back to Priderock, leaving her to ponder on his last words.

By now, Nala had stopped crying and started thinking about what Simba had said. _He may be right, but it won't stop me from following him… I love him._

**AN: Okay so, this was a leftover file from when I last wrote. I have a 4 day weekend so hopefully, I get to write a lot more and maybe post some GoG also.**


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